Thank you everyone for your comments. Sometimes a question generates more
questions than answers, but that is what we are here for. Each person's
suggestions was interesting.
I've taken the advice to heart and I understand the importance of semantic and
valid coding.
I put together a sample table form for the page. I still think that for our
purpose, the table is the best solution. I'm stressing our situation. We will
have someone with a list of information and they just want to type it in. This
is not the best situation for someone using a screen reader or pocket pc, but I
just don't see that happening for this page. I think the extra noise involved
in the extraneous labels or separating the field into multiple forms is more
work for the end user.
Here's the sample table
<fieldset>
<table cellspacing="0" class="zebraTable">
<caption>
Group Roster
</caption>
<thead>
<tr>
<th scope="col">Traveler #</th>
<th scope="col"><label for="firstname">* First Name</label></th>
<th scope="col"><label for="lastname">* Last Name</label></th>
<th scope="col"><label for="age">* Age:</label></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>1</td>
<td><input type="text" name="firstname1" maxlength="30" size="25" value=""
id="firstname" title="Enter the first name" /></td>
<td><input type="text" name="lastname1" maxlength="30" size="25" value=""
id="lastname" title="Enter the last name" /></td>
<td><input type="text" name="age1" maxlength="3" size="5" value="" id="age"
/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2</td>
<td><input type="text" name="firstname2" maxlength="30" size="25" value=""
id="firstname2" title="Enter the first name" /></td>
<td><input type="text" name="lastname2" maxlength="30" size="25" value=""
id="lastname2" title="Enter the last name" /></td>
<td><input type="text" name="age2" maxlength="3" size="5" value=""
id="age2" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</fieldset>
>From an accessibility standpoint, do the title attributes do anything? Would
>alt attributes do anything? Do the label tags do anything beyond the first set
>of inputs?
Whether it is semantic is debatable. It looks like valid xhtml to me. I'd love
to find a solution that is completely accessible and just as simple.
Ted
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